Hypertext is the organization of computer-based text into connected associations enabling a user to quickly access information that the user chooses. An instance of such an association is called a hyperlink or hypertext link. Hypertext was the main concept that led to the invention of the World Wide Web, which is nothing more than an enormous amount of information content connected by an enormous number of hyperlinks.
While the hyperlink has proven to be a successful means of relating two pieces of information, the process of generating hyperlinks has proven to be generally tedious. To create a single link, the process requires an author to define such portions, usually a text string or photo element of a structured file (usually a text document, web page, or other form of document) from which the hyperlink originates and a destination address at which the hyperlink terminates. In a closed system such as in a local network of workstations, the destination might be within the same file, directory, or computer, or the destination may be a designated file within a designated directory on the network.
Even with the required information, the knitting together of hyperlinks still requires some skill. The would-be author of a document with suitable links must first identify the content of the file the author seeks to augment and then must use an appropriate application to edit the file. Generally, the MIME header embedded in the file identifies the file type. The embedded header allows a computer software product to recognize the data by virtue of its Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions (“MIME”) type. MIME is an extension of the original Internet e-mail protocol that lets people use the protocol to exchange different kinds of data files on the Internet including audio, video, images, application programs, and other kinds, including text generally in the ASCII format. Once identified, the file is opened for review using the appropriate application as identified by the MIME header.
When the network is broader, such as on the Internet, static addresses on the Internet may be used as destinations. A Uniform Resource Locator is the address of a file (resource) accessible on the Internet. The type of resource depends on the Internet application protocol. Using the World Wide Web's protocol, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the resource can be an HTML page, an image file, a program such as a common gateway interface application or Java applet, or any other file type supported by HTTP. The URL contains the name of the protocol required to access the resource, a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and presents a hierarchical description of a file location on the computer.
For this reason, the content of resources may not have all of the links that would be useful. Old data might direct browsers to addresses where no data is now stored. “Link rot,” describes a gradual loss of data at URL's linked to documents. This gradual loss occurs when a destination document is removed while the link in an originating document to the destination document remains. The reader receives a “404 message,” an arbitrarily assigned code indicating that the page to which the reader has directed the browser no longer exists at the designated address. Another form of link rot occurs when the destination page has been changed in content and is no longer relevant according to the sending description.
Where parties, such as advertisers, wish to inject links into existing resources in order to direct the reader's browser to designated resources, it is critical that the links remain current. Because files are static, links that are old will not complete the hyperlink transit and therefore will lose the benefit of the hyperlink. Fixedly embedding links in the file subjects the file to link rot.
There is, therefore, an unmet need in the art for a publishing system and method for augmenting resources and maintaining suitable current hyperlinks within the resources.